Methods for effecting partial areas of small workpieces by subjecting the workpieces to high-frequency annealing, irradiation, or heat treatment by means of electron or laser beam devices are well known. By employing local heating it is also possible to produce a particular inhomogeneity in the material of the workpiece. Whenever great numbers of pieces are to be processed or whenever longer periods of time are required for annealing, however, these known processes become too expensive to be practical.
The purpose of this invention is therefore to provide a method and apparatus for the economical inhomogeneous annealing of large numbers of precision-engineering workpieces.